Thomas Hornsby

Thomas Hornsby (1733-1810), was a fellow of Corpus Christi College and Savilian Professor of Astronomy, who taught experimental physics from 1766 to 1810 in Oxford. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Radcliffe Observatory, for which the great mural quadrant by John Bird, presently exhibited at the main stairs at the museum, was made.

As the original Ashmolean Museum, the MHS building was host to experimental philosophy lectures and demonstrations in the 18th century. This notice provides information about a lecture by Thomas Hornsby, a fellow of Corpus Christi College and Savilian Professor of Astronomy, who taught experimental physics from 1766 to 1810. The notice is one of very few extant pieces of archive material associated with these early lectures. The Museum’s current displays contain instruments of the type Hornsby would have used to demonstrate different physical principles such as air pumps and various mechanical models.